Ice maker and method, and refrigerator having the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are an ice maker and method including an ice container to store ice, and a refrigerator having the same. The ice maker includes an ice making unit that receives water and produces ice from the water, a first ice container that receives the ice separated from the ice making unit, and an ice forwarding unit disposed at one side of the first ice container to guide the ice to be discharged to the outside.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/538,349 filed Aug. 10, 2009 which claims the benefit of Korean PatentApplications No. 10-2008-0079407 filed on Aug. 13, 2008 and No.10-2009-0055046 filed on Jun. 19, 2009 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

One or more embodiments relate to an ice maker and method including anice container to store ice and a refrigerator having the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, refrigerators comprise a refrigerating compartment and afreezing compartment sectionally formed from each other to preservevarious food stuff for a long time in an optimum state. Therefrigerating compartment stores foods such as vegetables and fruits tobe preserved above the freezing temperature whereas the freezingcompartment stores foods such as meat and fish to be preserved under thefreezing temperature.

Such a freezing compartment is provided with an ice maker that producesice by freezing water using cold air circulating therein.

The ice maker comprises a tray that receives water to produce ice, andan ice container that stores the produced ice.

Changes in dietary culture have recently caused an increase in theconsumption of ice, and accordingly have increased the demand for icemakers which have an ice container capable of storing a quantity of ice.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is an aspect of one or more embodiments to provide an icemaker capable of storing a quantity of ice.

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows and, in part, will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

In accordance with one aspect of one or more embodiments, an ice makerincludes an ice making unit that receives water and produces ice usingthe water, a first ice container that receives the ice separated fromthe ice making unit, and an ice forwarding unit disposed at one side ofthe first ice container to guide the ice during discharging of the ice.

The ice maker may further include a second ice container that receivesthe ice being guided through the ice forwarding unit.

The second ice container may be removably mounted to the one side of thefirst ice container.

The ice maker may further include an opening and closing unit that opensthe ice forwarding unit when the second ice container is mounted, andcloses the ice forwarding unit when the second ice container is removed.

The opening and closing unit may include a shutter part, and an elasticmember supplying elasticity to the shutter part in a direction forclosing the ice forwarding unit.

The opening and closing unit may further include a shutter part and aguide shaft guiding movements of the shutter part.

The second ice container may include at least one handle unit.

The second ice container may include a first guide unit to move up anddown the shutter part.

The opening and closing unit may include a projection protruded outwardfrom the shutter part, and the first guide unit may receive theprojection and guide movements of the projection.

Any one of the opening and closing unit and the second ice container mayinclude a projection while the other one may include a first guide unitthat receives the projection and guides movements of the projection.

Movements of the projection may be up and down movements.

One from among the opening and closing unit and the second ice containermay further include a projection while the other one may furthercomprise a first guide unit that receives the projection and guidesmovements of the projection.

The first guide unit may include an entry guiding part guiding entry ofthe projection, and an inclination part inclined downward from the entryguiding part.

The first guide unit may further include a movement prevention partextended from the inclination part to prevent the projection frommoving.

The second ice container may further include a step part disposedsubstantially at a same height as the ice forwarding unit.

The second ice container may further include a second guide unit thatreceives the projection and maintains a closed state of the opening andclosing unit during mounting and removal of the second ice container.

The second ice container may include a rail part allowing the second icecontainer to be efficiently connected to and separated from the one sideof the first ice container.

The rail part may be formed on a bottom surface of the second icecontainer.

The ice making unit may further include an extension rib to guide theice from the first ice container toward the ice forwarding unit.

The ice making unit may further include an ice making tray.

The ice making tray may have a twist-type structure that transports theice into the first ice container by twisting, and the extension rib isprotruded upward from a sidewall of the ice making tray.

The ice making unit may be mounted at a position corresponding to theice forwarding unit above the first ice container such that icetransported from the ice making unit is stacked in the first icecontainer, so as to be inclined towards the ice forwarding unit.

In accordance with another aspect of one or more embodiments, an icemaker includes a first container that receives ice and includes an iceforwarding unit guiding discharge of the received ice, an opening andclosing unit that opens and closes the ice forwarding unit, and a secondice container being removably connected adjacent to the first icecontainer and operating the opening and closing unit when connected in afirst direction, thereby opening the ice forwarding unit.

The opening and closing unit may include a shutter part, and an elasticmember supplying elasticity to the shutter part in a direction forclosing the ice forwarding unit.

The opening and closing unit may include a projection, and the secondice container comprises a first guide unit that receives the projectionto guide movements of the projection when the second ice container isconnected in the first direction.

The first guide unit may include an entry guiding part guiding entry ofthe projection, and an inclination part inclined downward from the entryguiding part.

The second ice container may further include a second guide unit thatreceives the projection and maintains a closed state of the opening andclosing unit when the second ice container is connected in a seconddirection.

The ice maker may further include an ice making unit that produces iceand transports the ice to the first ice container, wherein the icemaking unit further includes an extension rib to direct the transportedice in the first ice container toward the ice forwarding unit.

In accordance with a further aspect of one or more embodiments, arefrigerator is equipped with an ice maker therein, wherein the icemaker may include an ice making unit receiving water and producing icefrom the water, a first ice container receiving the ice separated fromthe ice making unit, and a second ice container disposed at one side ofthe first ice container to receive the separated ice from the first icecontainer.

The refrigerator may further include an opening and closing unit thatopens the one side of the first ice container when the second icecontainer is connected, and closes the one side of the first icecontainer when the second ice container is separated.

The opening and closing unit may include a shutter part disposed at theone side of the first ice container and including a projections, and anelastic member that supplies elasticity to the shutter part in adirection for closing the one side of the first ice container, and thesecond ice container comprises a first guiding unit receiving theprojection and guiding up and down movements of the projection.

The one side of the first ice container may be opened as the second icecontainer is connected to the first ice container in a certaindirection, and is closed as the second ice container is connected to thefirst ice container in the opposite direction.

The one side of the first ice container may be opened as the second icecontainer is connected to the first ice container on one side of thesecond ice container, and the one side of the first ice container may beclosed as the second ice container is connected to the first icecontainer on another side of the second ice container.

In accordance with a further aspect of one or more embodiments, arefrigerator includes an ice maker and a dispenser to discharge ice fromthe ice maker to the outside, and the ice maker may include an icemaking unit that produces ice and separates the ice therefrom, a firstice container that receives the ice being separated from the ice makingunit, a transport unit mounted in the first ice container to transportthe ice to the dispenser, a second ice container removably mounted tothe first ice container, and an opening and closing unit provided to atleast one of the first and the second ice containers to open one side ofat least one of the first and the second ice containers upon the secondice container being removably mounted.

In accordance with a further aspect of one or more embodiments, arefrigerator having an ice making area therein, includes a first icecontainer receiving ice, the first ice container being disposed at oneside of the ice making area, an opening and closing unit opening andclosing one side of the first ice container, and a partition memberdividing another side of the ice making area into a first space and asecond space, wherein at least a part of the ice received in the firstice container is transported to the first space according to operationof the opening and closing unit, the opening and closing unit beingoperated upon the first ice container being filled with the ice by morethan a predetermined quantity.

The refrigerator may further include a second ice container received inand separated from the first space, and opening the one side of thefirst ice container by operating the opening and closing unit upon thesecond ice container being received in the first space in a firstdirection.

The opening and closing unit may maintain a closed state of the one sideof the first ice container upon the second ice container being receivedin the first space in a second direction.

The partition member may divide the other side of the ice making area bya predetermined ratio so that the second ice container can beselectively received in the first space or the second space.

The second ice container may include a rail part to be efficientlyreceived in the first space, and the partition member comprises a guideformed on a surface thereof defining the first space, corresponding tothe rail part.

The refrigerator may further include an ice making unit disposed abovethe first ice container to produce ice and transport the ice to thefirst ice container, wherein the ice making unit further comprises anextension rib to guide the ice transported to the first ice container.

The ice making unit may have a twist-type structure transporting the iceby twisting, and the extension rib is protruded upward from a sidewallof the ice making unit.

In accordance with a further aspect of one or more embodiments, a methodof ice making may include receiving water into an ice making unit,receiving ice separated from the ice making unit into a first icecontainer, and guiding the ice in the first ice container to bedischarged.

The method of ice making may further include allowing the ice to beguided into a second ice container by attaching the second ice containerto the first ice container on a side of the second ice container, andpreventing the ice from being guided into the second ice container byattaching the second ice container to the first ice container on anotherside of the second ice container.

The method of ice making may further include allowing storage of anothersecond ice container above the second ice container.

The method of ice making may further include guiding the ice separatedfrom the ice making unit to fall near a second ice container.

The method of ice making may further include detecting an ice-full statein the first ice container due to uneven piling of the ice in the firstice container, and distributing evenly the ice in the first icecontainer upon detecting an ice-full state.

The distributing may simultaneously forward the ice to a second icecontainer while distributing evenly the ice in the first ice container.

As described above, according to the ice maker and the refrigeratorhaving the same, a sufficient quantity of ice may be stored using aplurality of ice containers.

In addition, simply by mounting the second ice container to the firstice container, the ice being separated from the ice maker may bedistributed evenly to the first and the second ice containers.

Moreover, by shifting a mounting direction of the second ice containerusing the first and second guide units provided to the second icecontainer, the second ice container may be used as an auxiliarycontainer of the first ice container or for other purposes.

Since the ice making unit is provided with the extension rib, the icefrom the ice making unit may be received near the second ice containerin the first ice container. As a result, the ice in the first icecontainer is efficiently transported to the second ice container.

Furthermore, the partition member provided in an ice making area enablesstorage of a plurality of the second ice containers, thereby enhancingthe space utilization.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and morereadily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the overall appearance of arefrigerator according to one or more exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a longitudinal-sectional view of a freezingcompartment of the refrigerator;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an ice maker of therefrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded perspective view of an opening andclosing unit of the ice maker;

FIG. 5 illustrates a view of the operation of the opening and closingunit of the ice maker;

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 illustrate perspective views of first and second icecontainers of the ice maker being assembled;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side view of the assembled state of the first andthe second ice containers of the ice maker;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exploded perspective view of an ice making unitaccording to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation view of the ice making unit of theother exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a view showing main parts of the refrigeratoraccording to a further exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a view showing a second ice container according tothe further exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. Theembodiments are described and explained below by referring to thefigures.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the overall appearance of arefrigerator according to one or more exemplary embodiments and FIG. 2illustrates a longitudinal-sectional view of a freezing compartment ofthe refrigerator. FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an ice makerof the refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the refrigerator according to one or moreembodiments comprises a main body 10 constituting the exteriorappearance thereof, storage compartments 20 and 30 formed at upper andlower parts inside the main body 10, doors 11 and 12 to open and closeopened front sides of the respective storage compartments 20 and 30, anice maker 100 mounted in a freezing compartment 30 of the storagecompartments 20 and 30, and a dispenser 40 to discharge ice produced bythe ice maker 100 to a front side of the door 12.

An evaporator 13 is mounted to a rear wall of the main body 10 togenerate cold air. A machinery chamber 14 is partitioned off at a lowerrear part of the main body 10. In addition, a foamed material 15 isstuffed between an inner cabinet 10 a and an outer cabinet 10 b of themain body 10 in order for thermal insulation.

In the machinery chamber 14 of the main body 10, electric partsincluding a compressor 16 are mounted. The storage compartments 20 and30 are disposed above the machinery chamber 14.

It is apparent that component parts such as a condenser (not shown) andan expander (not shown) constituting a refrigerating cycle are equippedin the main body 10.

The storage compartments 20 and 30 may be sectioned by a verticalpartition 17 into a refrigerating compartment 20 disposed on the rightof the vertical partition 17 in the drawing to store food in arefrigerated state, and a freezing compartment 30 disposed on the leftof the vertical partition 17 to store food in a frozen state.

An internal panel 19 is mounted to rear sides of the storagecompartments 20 and 30, thereby defining a cold air generating chamber18 generating the cold air to be supplied to the storage compartments 20and 30. In the cold air generating chamber 18, an evaporator 13 ismounted to generate the cold air through heat exchange with the ambientair.

The inner panel 19 comprises a plurality of exhaustion ports 19 aarranged at predetermined intervals to exhaust the cold air evenly intothe storage compartments 20 and 30, a cold air path 19 b which guidesthe cold air toward the exhaustion ports 19 a, and a circulation fan 19c which drives the cold air heat-exchanged passing through theevaporator 13 to the cold air path 19 b and the exhaustion parts 19 a.

Shelves 21 and 31 and storage boxes 22 and 32 are provided respectivelyin the storage compartments 20 and 30 to store the food.

The doors 11 and 12 are provided as a pair so as to open and close therefrigerating compartment 20 and the freezing compartment 30,respectively. More specifically, the doors 11 and 12 comprise arefrigerating compartment door 11 pivotably mounted to the main body 10to open and close the refrigerating compartment 20, and a freezingcompartment door 12 pivotably mounted to the main body 10 to open andclose the freezing compartment 30.

Additionally, a plurality of door shelves 11 a and 12 a are mounted toinner sides of the refrigerating compartment door 11 and the freezingcompartment door 12, respectively, to further store food.

The freezing compartment door 12 is equipped with the dispenser 40enabling a user to take out some objects such as water and ice withouthaving to directly opening the freezing compartment door 12. Inaddition, the ice maker 100 is provided to an upper part of the freezingcompartment 30 to produce and supply ice for the dispenser 40.

The dispenser 40 comprises a withdrawal unit 42 formed as a spacerecessed inwardly from a front side of the freezing compartment door 12and provided with a withdrawal opening 41 through which the objects aretaken out. The dispenser 40 further comprises an opening and closingmember 43 which opens and closes the withdrawal opening 41, an operationlever 44 mounted to the withdrawal unit 42 to operate the opening andclosing member 43 and also operate the ice maker 100 provided in thefreezing compartment 30, and an ice discharge path 45 fluidly connectingan inner surface and an outer surface of the freezing compartment door12 with each other so as to guide the ice produced from the ice maker100 to the withdrawal opening 41.

The ice maker 100 is disposed at an upper space in the freezingcompartment 30. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the ice maker 100comprises an ice making unit 110 producing the ice, a first icecontainer 120 storing the ice produced in the ice maker 110, a transportunit 130 transporting the ice stored in the first ice container 120, acrushing unit 140 making the ice transported by the transport unit 130into crushed ice, and a second ice container 150 removably mounted tothe first ice container 120 to distributively store the ice of the firstice container 120.

The ice making unit 110 comprises an ice making tray 111 producing icefrom water supplied from the outside, being formed of metal, a watersupply cup 113 supplying the water to the ice making tray 111, a scraper115 discharging the ice from the ice making tray 111, a driving motor(not shown) driving the scraper 115, a heater (not shown) melting oneside of the ice contacting the ice making tray 111 in order tofacilitate moving of the ice by the scraper 115, and an ice-full statesensing lever 117 detecting whether the first ice container 120 isfilled with the ice.

The ice making unit 110 is fixed to the freezing compartment 30 througha plurality of brackets 119 connected to one of side walls of thefreezing compartment 30. At the rear side of the main body 10, a watersupplying pipe 101 is extended up to an upper part of the ice makingunit 110 to supply the water for producing the ice to the ice makingunit 110.

Although not shown, differently from as described above, the ice makingunit 110 may be structured to have an ice making tray formed byinjection molding of resin and to discharge the ice downward from theice making tray by rotating and twisting the ice making tray.

The first ice container 120 is disposed at a lower part of the icemaking unit 110, and comprises a first receiving part 121 opened upwardto receive the ice dropping from the ice making unit 110 and extended ina forward and backward direction of the ice making unit 110, an icedischarge opening 123 disposed at a front lower part to discharge theproduced ice, and a cover 125 formed in front of the first ice container120, thereby shielding the front of the ice maker 100.

The first ice container 120 has a drawer form to be taken in and out ofthe freezing compartment 30. The cover 125 has a penetration hole 126 sothat the cold air is circulated between the freezing compartment 30 andthe ice maker 100.

The transport unit 130 comprises a transporting screw member 131 and atransport motor 133. The transporting screw member 131 is rotatablymounted inside the first ice container 120 to help the discharging ofthe ice of the first ice container 120 toward the ice discharge opening123. The transport motor 133 is fixed to a rear side of the first icecontainer 120 to rotate the transporting screw member 131. Thetransporting screw member 131 is separated from a shaft of the transportmotor 133 when the first ice container 120 is separated from thefreezing compartment 30, and connected to the shaft of the transportmotor 133 when the first ice container 120 is mounted to the freezingcompartment 30.

The crushing unit 140 is disposed near the ice discharge opening 123 ofthe first ice container 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the crushing unit 140comprises a static blade 141 fixed at the ice discharge opening 123, anda plurality of rotary blades 143 rotated relative to the static blade141, being connected to a shaft 145 extended from the transporting screwmember 131 of the transport unit 130. Therefore, as the transportingscrew member 131 is rotated by the transport motor 133, the rotaryblades 143 are accordingly rotated.

The crushing unit 140 may comprise a shutter (not shown) partly openingand closing the ice discharge opening 123, thereby selectivelydischarging cubed ice or crushed ice through the ice discharge opening123. Since the opening and closing structure of the shutter can beachieved by generally known art, the structure will not be shown indetail in the drawings.

For instance, the shutter may comprise an opening and closing memberrotatably mounted to the ice discharge opening 123, a solenoid operatorcontrolling the opening and closing operation of the opening and closingmember, and a connection member interconnecting the solenoid operatorwith the opening and closing member.

In the above described structure, after the ice making tray 111 issupplied with water through the water supplying pipe 101 and left for apredetermined time, the water in the ice making tray 111 is frozen bythe cold air circulating in the freezing compartment 30, therebyproducing cubed ice having a predetermined size. The ice cubes aredropped into the first ice container 120 by the operations of the heater(not shown) and the scraper 115, filling the first ice container 120.

When the ice-full state sensing lever 117 detects a full ice state inthe first ice container 120 filled with the ice supplied from the icemaking tray 111, the ice producing operation is not performed any more.

When the user takes out the ice through the dispenser 40, the transportunit 130 and the opening and closing device (not shown) are operated sothat the ice being discharged through the ice discharge opening 123 istaken out to the withdrawal unit 42 through the ice discharge path 45.When the ice in the first ice container 120 is discharged and thereforethe full ice state is removed, the ice making tray 111 is supplied withwater again to produce ice. Such ice producing and discharging processesare performed under the control of a control unit (not shown) mounted tothe ice maker 100.

The ice in the ice maker 100 is supplied to the user by the dispenser 40through the above serial processes. Sometimes, a quantity of ice may beneeded at once. Unless lots of ice is prepared in storage beforehand, itis difficult to obtain the desired quantity of ice because the iceproducing speed is restricted.

Therefore, it is necessary to produce and store lots of ice in advanceso that the ice may be supplied by a desired quantity at any time. Forthis, according to one or more embodiments, the second ice container 150is provided in addition to the first ice container 120.

Therefore, the ice separated from the ice making tray 111 is stored inthe first receiving part 121 of the first ice container 120 and, whenthe first receiving part 121 is filled with the ice by over apredetermined quantity, some of the ice is automatically supplied intothe second ice container 150 without the user's dedicated manipulation.

Hereinafter, the structure of the ice maker 100 will be described ingreater detail.

According to one or more embodiments, the second ice container 150 ismounted to one side of the first ice container 120, and an iceforwarding unit 127 is provided to one side of the first ice container120 to discharge the ice to the second ice container 150. The iceforwarding unit 127 is equipped with an opening and closing unit 200that opens and closes the ice forwarding unit 127.

More particularly, the ice forwarding unit 127 is formed at one side ofthe first ice container 120, as an opening disposed at a predeterminedheight such that, when the first ice container 120 is filled with theice by a predetermined quantity, some of the ice escapes from the firstice container 120 through the ice forwarding unit 127.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the opening and closing unit200 of the ice maker 100 and FIG. 5 shows the operation of the openingand closing unit 200.

The ice forwarding unit 127 is equipped with the opening and closingunit 200 for opening and closing thereof.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, the opening and closing unit200, which is moved up and down with respect to the ice forwarding unit127, comprises a shutter part 210 opening and closing the ice forwardingunit 127, an elastic member 220 supplying elasticity to the shutter part210 in a closed state, a guide shaft 230 guiding an up and down movementof the shutter part 210, and a mounting member 240 fixing the guideshaft 230.

The shutter part 210 has a size corresponding to the ice forwarding unit127 and includes a projection 211 projected outward from a lower middlepart thereof.

The projection 211 may be rotatably mounted to the shutter part 210 tofacilitate connection and separation of the shutter part 210 withrespect to the second ice container 150.

Corresponding to the projection 211, a cut part 129 is formed at a lowerpart of the ice forwarding unit 127, being cut out in a verticaldirection to enable an up and down movement of the projection 211.

In addition, a guide hole 213 to insert the guide shaft 230 isvertically formed on both sides of the shutter part 210, so that theshutter part 210 fits with the guide shaft 230 and stably moved up anddown along the guide shaft 230.

The elastic member 220 may be implemented by a coil spring. In thiscase, one end of the elastic member 220 is fixed to an upper part of themounting member 240 while the other end is fixed to the shutter part210.

Therefore, without any external force applied, the shutter part 210maintains the ice forwarding unit 127 in the closed state by theelasticity of the elastic member 220. When a predetermined externalforce is applied downward to the projection 211, however, the elasticmember 220 is elastically deformed and accordingly the shutter part 210is moved down along the guide shaft 230, thereby opening the iceforwarding unit 127.

When the external force is removed afterward, the shutter part 210 ismoved up along the guide shaft 230 by an elastic recovery force of theelastic member 220, thereby closing the ice forwarding unit 127.

Thus, the shutter part 210 is moved up and down by the external forceapplied thereto, thereby opening and closing the ice forwarding unit127. Here, the external force to move down the shutter part 210 may besupplied as the second ice container 150 is mounted to the side of thefirst ice container 120.

Hereinafter, connecting and separating operations of the second icecontainer 150 will be explained in greater detail.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 illustrate perspective views of first and second icecontainers of the ice maker, being assembled. FIG. 8 illustrates a sideview of the assembled state of the first and the second ice containersof the ice maker 100.

The second ice container 150 may have a similar length to a length ofthe first ice container 120 as shown in FIG. 3. In addition, a width ofthe second ice container 150 may be properly determined so that the sumof widths of the first and the second ice containers 120 and 150corresponds to an inner width of the freezing compartment 30.

Through such a structure, bilateral movements of the second icecontainer 150 may be restrained as much as possible when the second icecontainer 150 is inserted in a state where the first ice container 120is fixed to the freezing compartment 30 (FIG. 1). Furthermore, thesecond ice container 150 may be securely connected with the first icecontainer 120.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 6, the second ice container 150 comprises asecond receiving part 151 formed therein to receive the ice, and guideunits 160 and 170 disposed on both sides, being depressed inward toinsert the projection 211.

The second ice container 150 may further comprise a handle unit 157 onat least one of a front side and a rear side thereof for the user toconveniently connect and separate the second ice container 150. In thisembodiment, the handle unit 157 is provided to both front and rear sidesof the second ice container 150.

The guide units 160 and 170 comprise a first guide unit 160 to move downthe projection 211 during mounting of the second ice container 150, anda second guide unit 170 to maintain an initial position of theprojection 211 even after the second ice container 150 is mounted.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 8, the first guide unit 160 comprises an entryguiding part 161 formed on one side surface of the second ice container150 to guide entry of the projection 211 when the second ice container150 is mounted, an inclination part 163 sloping down from the entryguiding part 161 to move the projection 211 downward along theinclination part 163, and a movement prevention part 165 extended froman end of the inclination part 163 to prevent movement and separation ofthe projection 211 although the elasticity of the elastic member 220 isexerted in a direction for pushing the shutter part 210 upward.

The entry guiding part 161 is gradually narrowed in width from the frontside toward the rear side. Therefore, although the user mounts thesecond ice container 150 at a wrong height, the projection 211 may besmoothly inserted in the entry guiding part 161.

Since the inclination part 163 is sloped downward from the entry guidingpart 161, the projection 211 inserted in the entry guiding part 161 ismoved down along the inclination part 163, by being pushed by an uppersurface of the inclination part 163 as the second ice container 150advances.

When connecting and separating the second ice container 150, the up anddown movement speed of the shutter part 210 is varied according to aninclined angle ‘a’ of the inclination part 163. When the inclined angle‘a’ is relatively large, the connection and separation of the second icecontainer 150 may be performed inefficiently. When the inclined angle‘a’ is relatively small, on the other hand, the movement speed of theshutter part 210 is decreased and the ice existing between the first andthe second ice containers 120 and 150 may even drop to the outside bythe operation of the shutter part 210.

Accordingly, the inclined angle ‘a’ may be determined and applied, byconsidering the connection and separation efficiency of the second icecontainer 150 and prevention of escape of the ice.

When the second ice container 150 is further advanced until theprojection 211 is inserted in the movement prevention part 165, theshutter part 210 maintains the ice forwarding unit 127 in the openedstate because a weight of the second ice container 150 is greater thanthe elasticity of the elastic member 220.

Furthermore, a step part 150 a may be additionally formed on the sidesurface of the second ice container 150 where the first guide unit 160is formed, being stepped down by a width corresponding to the iceforwarding unit 127.

Since the step part 150 a is stepped down to a similar height to the iceforwarding unit 127 in the opened state, the ice overflowing from thefirst ice container 120 to the second ice container 150 may berestrained from dropping out of the second ice container 150.

When the second ice container 150 is mounted to the side of the firstice container 120 and the ice is produced with the ice forwarding unit127 opened, after the first ice container 120 is filled with apredetermined quantity of the ice, some of the ice being dropped fromthe ice making tray 111 is forwarded to the second ice container 150through the ice forwarding unit 127. Accordingly, the ice begins to bestored in the second ice container 150.

When the full ice state of the first ice container 120 is detected bythe ice-full state sensing lever 117 of the ice making unit 110, in somecases, the ice may be inclined to some part in the first ice container120, resulting in an uneven pile of the ice in the first ice container120.

To this end, in reference to FIG. 3, the control unit (not shown)operates the transporting screw member 131 of the transport unit 130 fora predetermined time to mix up the ice when the full ice state isdetected. Therefore, the ice being mixed is evenly distributed withinthe first ice container 120 and, simultaneously, partly forwarded to thesecond ice container 150 through the ice forwarding unit 127. Thus, theice stored in the first ice container 120 may be passed over to thesecond ice container 150 by operating the transport unit 130 in spite ofdetection of the full ice state, and accordingly the full ice state isremoved and the ice producing operation may be continued, therebyenabling production and storage of more ice.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, when the user needs the ice, the useroperates the operation lever 44 of the dispenser 40, thereby driving thetransport unit 130. The ice is then moved by the transport unit 130, andpartly forwarded to and stored in the second ice container 150, on aside 151 of the second ice container, through the ice forwarding unit127.

The second ice container 150 includes the second guide unit 170 disposedon the other side 153, being depressed substantially in a horizontaldirection.

The second guide unit 170 comprises an entry guiding part 171functioning in the same manner as the entry guiding part 161 of thefirst guide unit 160, and a horizontal part 172 extended horizontally toprevent the projection 211 inserted in the entry guiding part 171 frommoving up and down.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7, the projection 211 maintains itsinitial state while the second ice container 150 is being mounted to thefirst ice container 120 through the second guide unit 170, and thereforethe shutter part 210 maintains the ice forwarding unit 127 in the closedstate.

That is, when the user estimates that the second ice container 150 isfull of ice, when the user does not need a great quantity of the ice, orwhen the user wants to use the second ice container 150 for anotherpurpose rather than storage of the ice, the second ice container 150 maybe connected to the first ice container 120 through the second guideunit 170 so that the ice in the first ice container 120 is not forwardedto the second ice container 150.

Although only an exemplary embodiment has been explained so farregarding the ice forwarding unit 127 at the first ice container 120,one or more embodiments are not limited to this structure. In otherwords, one of ordinary skill would recognize the ice forwarding unit 127may be provided to the second ice container 150 while the opening andclosing unit 200 may also be provided to the second ice container 150.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to another exemplary embodimentwill be explained.

The only distinctive feature of this other exemplary embodiment from theprevious exemplary embodiment is in the structure of the ice making unitwhile the other structures are almost the same.

In the following description, the same structures and elements as in theprevious exemplary embodiment will be cited by the same referencenumerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of an ice making unit 310according to another exemplary embodiment and FIG. 10 is an operationview of the ice making unit 310.

As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, an ice making unit 310 of the presentexemplary embodiment includes an ice making tray 311 formed by injectionmolding of resin to make ice from water supplied from the outside, awater supply cup (not shown) to supply water to the ice making tray 311,a driving motor 313 rotating the ice making tray 311 so as to dischargethe ice from the ice making tray 311, and an ice-full state sensinglever 315 detecting whether the first ice container 120 is fully filledwith the produced ice.

The ice making unit 310 has a general twist-type structure in which theice making tray 311 is rotated and twisted, thereby transporting the iceto the first ice container 120.

Referring to FIG. 10, the position of the ice making unit 310 isinclined to the right with respect to an upper part of the first icecontainer 120 or at an upper center part of the first ice container 120.Therefore, in case of employing the twist-type ice making unit 310, theice transported from the ice making unit 310 may vertically fall to aposition inclined opposite to the ice forwarding unit 127 in the firstice container 120 or fall to the center of the first ice container 120.

When being received in the inclined position or in the center of thefirst ice container 120, the ice is hard to be moved to the second icecontainer 150. In addition, the ice full state of the first icecontainer 120 may be wrongly detected even before the ice is transportedto the second ice container 150. Thus, it may be difficult to produce aquantity of ice and distributively store the ice into the first and thesecond ice containers 120 and 150.

To solve such a case, an extension rib 317 may be provided to beprotruded upward from one side of the ice making tray 311.

The extension rib 317 may be integrally formed with the ice making tray311 or separately formed and then connected to one side of the icemaking tray 311.

The extension rib 317 guides the ice separated from the ice making tray311 to fall near the ice forwarding unit 127.

As shown in FIG. 10, after the water stored in the ice making tray 311becomes ice, the ice making tray 311 is rotated and twisted to separatethe ice from the ice making tray 311. Through such operations andstructure, the ice separated from the ice making tray 311 may slidealong a slope of the extension rib 317 and fall to a position inclinedto the ice forwarding unit 127.

Accordingly, since the ice fallen to the first ice container 120 isstacked from the position near the ice forwarding unit 127, the ice maybe efficiently transported from the first ice container 120 to thesecond ice container 150 and stacked in the second ice container 150.

Thus, since the extension rib 317 guides the ice falling from the icemaking tray 311 toward the ice forwarding unit 127, transportation ofthe ice from the first ice container 120 to the second ice container 150can be effectively achieved.

That is, according to the structure of the another exemplary embodiment,the ice full state of the first ice container 120 will not be wronglydetected by the ice full state sensing lever 315 even when the secondice container 150 is not fully filled with the ice, thereby preventing acase where receiving of a quantity of the ice in the second icecontainer 150 is restricted in a non-ice full state.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to a further exemplary embodimentwill be described.

One of the distinctive features of the further exemplary embodiment fromthe previous exemplary embodiments is in the structure of the second icecontainer.

FIG. 11 shows main parts of the refrigerator according to the furtherexemplary embodiment and FIG. 12 shows the second ice container of therefrigerator, being connected, according to the further exemplaryembodiment.

Compared to the second ice container 150 of the other exemplaryembodiments, a second ice container 350 of the present exemplaryembodiment further includes a rail part 351 formed at a lower surfacethereof. The other structures are almost the same.

The rail part 351 is extended in a length direction along a lower outersurface of the second ice container 350. Therefore, when connected toone side of the first ice container 120 (FIG. 8 and FIG. 10), the secondice container 350 is guided to be smoothly connected while maintaining asubstantially constant interval with the first ice container 120 alongthe length direction.

A guide 322 is correspondingly provided to a partition member 320 toguide the movement of the rail part 351. The partition member 320 willbe described later.

The rail part 351 may be constituted by a pair of rails each having apredetermined width and extending in the length direction as protrudedon the lower outer surface of the second ice container 350. The guide332 is protruded by a predetermined height from a first supportingsurface 324 of the partition member 320 and inserted between the pair ofrails so as to guide the movement of the second ice container 350.

Although the present exemplary embodiment has the guide 322 at thepartition member 320, if the partition member 320 is not provided and asupporting surface supporting the second ice container is dedicatedlyformed as in the previous exemplary embodiments, the guide 322 may beformed at the supporting surface.

In addition, differently from the embodiment where the rail part 351 isformed at the second ice container 350 and the guide 322 is formed atthe partition member 320, positions of the rail part 351 and the guide322 may be exchanged.

Presuming that an ice making area 300 includes an area where the icemaker 100 is mounted and an area on the right of the ice maker 100 withrespect to the drawing, the partition member 320 divides the right areaof the ice maker 100 into upper and lower spaces.

That is, the partition member 320 divides the right ice making area intoa first space 303 that is a lower space and a second space 305 that isan upper space.

The partition member 320 includes a first supporting surface 324 forminga lower side of the first space 303 and supporting the second icecontainer 350 which may be received in the first space 303, and a secondsupporting surface 326 forming a lower side of the second space 305 andsupporting the second ice container 350 which may also be received inthe second space 305.

Although the partition member 320 according to this exemplary embodimentintegrally includes the first and the second supporting surfaces 324 and326, the first and the second supporting surfaces 324 and 326 may beseparately formed and connected to the right ice making area.

In the first supporting surface 324, the guide 322 corresponding to therail part 351 formed on the lower surface of the second ice container350 is extended in the length direction, thereby effectively guiding thesecond ice container 350 moving in and out with respect to the firstspace 303.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 11, the first and second spaces 303 and 305are partitioned into predetermined spaces to receive the second icecontainer 350. More specifically, when the first guide unit 160 of thesecond ice container 350 puts the second ice container 350 into thefirst space 303 in a direction toward the first ice container 120, therail part 351 formed at the lower surface of the second ice container350 is guided by the guide 322 formed on the first supporting surface324 and the second ice container 350 is accordingly connectedmaintaining the predetermined gap with the first ice container 120.Simultaneously, the opening and closing unit 200 of the first icecontainer 120 is moved down, thereby opening the ice forwarding unit127.

On the other hand, when the second guide unit 170 of the second icecontainer 350 puts the second ice container 350 into the first space 303in a direction toward the first ice container 120, the rail part 351 isguided by the guide 322 while a closed state of the ice forwarding unit127 is maintained by the opening and closing unit 200. Accordingly, thesecond ice container 350 is connected, maintaining the predetermined gapwith the first ice container 120.

In addition, multiple second ice containers 350 may used at the sametime. In order to store a great quantity of ice, the second icecontainer 350 being full of ice by staying in the first space 303 for apredetermined time, may be taken out from the first space 303 andconnected in the second space 305 as shown in FIG. 12. Then, an emptysecond container 350 may be newly mounted in the first space 303 so thata quantity of ice being produced by the ice maker 100 can be stored inthe ice making area 300.

The refrigerator according to one or more embodiments may selectivelyemploy the ice making units.

In addition, although a side-by-side (SBS) refrigerator has beenexplained, one or more embodiments may be applied to other types ofrefrigerators. Even in a refrigerator without an ice dispenser, largeamounts of ice may be stored by providing first and second icecontainers as set forth in the exemplary embodiments.

Although exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it wouldbe appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made inthese embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit ofthe invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An ice maker comprises: an ice making unit toreceive water and to produce ice from the water, the ice making unitcomprising: an ice tray; and an extension rib to guide the ice separatedfrom the ice making tray to fall.
 2. The ice maker according to claim 1,wherein the extension rib is protruded upward from one side of the icemaking tray.
 3. The ice maker according to claim 2, wherein theextension rib is integrally formed with the ice making tray.
 4. The icemaker according to claim 2, wherein the extension rib is separatelyformed and then connected to one side of the ice making tray.
 5. The icemaker according to claim 1, wherein the ice making unit furthercomprising: a first ice container to receive the ice from the ice makingunit; an ice forwarding opening disposed at one side wall of the firstice container and configured to horizontally discharge the ice; and asecond ice container detachably and horizontally connected to the firstice container and disposed beside the first ice container, the secondice container having a receiving portion formed at one side wall of thesecond ice container to forward the ice discharged from the iceforwarding opening within the first ice container.
 6. The ice makeraccording to claim 5, wherein the extension rib is configured to guidethe ice separated from the ice making tray to fall near the iceforwarding unit so that transportation of the ice from the first icecontainer to the second ice container can be effectively achieved. 7.The ice maker according to claim 5, wherein a bottom of the iceforwarding opening and a bottom of the receiving portion are disposed ata same height in a state that the second ice container is connected tothe first ice container, such that the ice is discharged through the iceforwarding opening and received in the second ice container when thefirst ice container is filled with the ice to a predetermined height. 8.An ice maker comprising: an ice making unit to receive water and toproduce ice from the water; a first ice container to receive the icefrom the ice making unit; an ice forwarding opening disposed at one sidewall of the first ice container and configured to horizontally dischargethe ice, wherein the ice making unit comprising: an ice tray; and anextension rib protruded upward from one side of the ice making tray,wherein the extension rib is configured to guide the ice separated fromthe ice making tray to fall near the ice forwarding unit.